Let's stop blaming President Bush

Thanks to the ongoing debate over health care, the American people are starting to become more aware of the way our government is spending our money. The American people are also aware of the fact that it is indeed their own money that is being spent, and they are becoming less content with that overspending each and every day, as they should be.

Well, the hardcore liberals are now doing what they do best: they are deflecting the blame to the previous President and taking no responsibility for their own actions. After all, it is much easier to deflect the blame on someone else than it is to actually take responsibility for one's own actions. Thankfully, there are not as many buying into this idea as before.

First, let me say that I am a supporter of former President George W. Bush. He did his best to protect this country from those who were bent on destroying it. As commander-in-chief, he took that responsibility seriously, and I am thankful for that. However, in his second term, along with a Republican-led Congress, he supported spending programs that were contrary to conservative principles and led us into a lot of debt. (Let's be clear: It is Congress that writes the checks. The President only signs the bills. However, President Bush did not veto these spending plans, which thus shows no disagreement with the bills he was signing.)

Many Bush supporters (and especially conservatives) were (and still are) unhappy about the out-of-control spending that took place during that second term. Many conservatives spoke out about it then, and they continue to speak out about it, so there is not hypocrisy happening. The Democrats, for the most part, were partakers in the spending under President Bush, but they separated themselves from it for electoral purposes only. They are the hypocrites in all of this.

And while the spending spree in the last few years of the Bush Administration was unwise and financially reckless, it pales in comparison to the spending that the Obama Administration is now partaking in. It is President Obama's contention that this spending is necessary to get us out of a recession. He believes that the government needs to spend this money in order to dig our country out of a financial hole that we now find ourselves. And, somehow, it is all President Bush's fault.

Blaming President Bush for anything has been commonplace for at least the last 8 years. It is almost comical the lengths that people go to in order to blame Bush. But why are they doing it?

First, I believe they are blaming President Bush in order to take attention off of the health care debate and the fact that they are losing the fight (at least, for right now). When you are losing the battle, blame someone else in order to draw the attention away from the fact that you are losing. It is a classic misdirection - try to get someone focused on something other than the main issue and you might be able to sneak it through.

Second, they need a bogeyman to hide their own shortcomings and failures. These guys have a Democrat controlled House and Senate (and the majorities are significant). There is nothing that the Republicans can do to stop legislation. Yet, they still cannot get some of their key issues through Congress.

Third, they are blaming President Bush because they do not like him. This, of course, is no secret. They hated this man. Many would have been happy if President Bush had just died, or been shot. Now, we have the Obama Administration trying to feed off of this perceived, supposedly still-lingering Bush Derangement Syndrome.

The Obama Administration is trying to sell the American people on the fact that this excessive spending (whether Cap-and -Trade, Cash for Clunkers, Health Care, TARP, etc) is necessary in order to bring this country back from a recession caused by the Bush Administration. I am having trouble trying to understand this concept. If it was wrong for the deficit to reach annual rates of $500,000,000,000, then how can it be OK for the government to go at least $1,500,000,000,000 in the hole this year alone in order to dig out of the hole?

This is a deficit at least 3x larger than any deficit we ever saw under the Bush Administration. In fact, there are some estimates now that show this year's deficit will be larger than all 8 years of budget deficits under George Bush, combined. And there is no end in sight to this madness. The liberals that are currently running the country are trying to find new and unique ways to spend our money. Instead of paring back government, they are trying to introduce government to new areas where they do not yet have a presence.

The founding fathers of this great country saw to it that the power of the government was to be limited. There were some basic areas where the government needed to be involved, but for the most part, powers were given to the states or to the people. The founding fathers did not want to see a government that was involved in every phase of our lives. Over the past 200+ years, government has slowly added to their power, while taking away the power of the state and the power of the people. Let us not forget the the role of the government is to protect our freedom and to clear the path so that Americans can chase their dreams and their goals without the fear of the government punishing them for being successful.

So my message to President Obama is this: Take responsibility for the decisions that you and your administration are making. We know that you do not want to admit to this, but this is what you have wanted to do. We know you wanted people to be dependent on government and not on themselves. Stop blaming others. Admit that these are your goals. Be proud of your achievements. And start packing, because if you continue down this path, you are destined for a one-term presidency.

Do we need another Declaration of Independence?

For some reason, I pulled out a copy of the Declaration of Independence a couple of weeks ago and read it. Now, I am sure that I have read through it before, but I do not think that I paid attention to it like I did this time. I tried to absorb the words, to get an understanding of the situation that the Founding Fathers were confronted with. I would like to share some of my thoughts with you.

One of the first things that caught my eye is that our inalienable rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are not guaranteed happiness, only the freedom to pursue it. I do not see health care as a right, a new car as a right, a house as a right. We have the freedom to pursue those things, ot the right to own them.

The following text I find interesting: "That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security."

I put the emphasis to the above sections. If these sections do not speak about today's government, then I do not know what does.

The writers of the Declaration then go on to list the many grievances that they had against the King of England, several of which apply to today's national leaders. Among them are:

• "He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance."
• "For imposing taxes on us without our consent."
• "For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments."

The signers then go on to declare their independence from Great Britain due to these grievances. They did not do so flippantly. They did this with great solemnity. They then conclude the Declaration with this phrase: "...with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Many of the men who signed this document eventually went on to fight for America's independence. Some of them lost their property and their wealth due to their stand. Some of them lost their lives in the Revolutionary War. These men took a stand, and our country is better for it today.

We do not face the same kind of persecution today. Thanks to our Constitution, we have the freedom to speak out when we believe the government is wrong. We can do this without fear of reprisal (for now). We can speak up without fear of being arrested. We do not have to go to war to fight for independence, because we already have it.

Since this is the case, then I only have one question to ask. Why are we so afraid to stand up for what we believe in? These men who signed the Declaration knew what was coming when they signed that Declaration. They know their lives were going to become more difficult. They know that they might lose everything they owned, possibly even their own lives. But they did it anyway.

We now have an opportunity for a revolution. No, not one that is fought with guns and swords. Rather, it is an ideological revolution, one for the hearts, minds, and values of the American people. It is time for us to stand up to our representatives, senators, and even the President to let them know the will of the people. If they do not listen, then we need to remove them. Even if they do listen, it may be time to remove them.

Our government is on that is "Of the people, By the people, For the people." It exists because of us, not in spite of us. It is time our government officials realized that.